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Disney XD
Disney XD is an American digital cable and satellite television channel that is owned by the Disney Channels Worldwide unit of Disney–ABC Television Group, part of the Disney Media Networks division of the The Walt Disney Company. Aimed primarily at male pre-teens and teenagers 6–14 years of age, its programming consists of original first-run television series, current and former original series and made-for-cable films from sister network Disney Channel, theatrically-released movies, and live-action and animated programs from other distributors. The channel offers an alternate Spanish language audio feed, either via a separate channel as part of a package of Spanish television networks sold by cable and satellite providers or a separate audio track accessible through the SAP option, depending on the provider. As of August 2013, approximately 80,864,000 American households (70.81% of households with television) receive Disney XD. History Disney XD (DXD) was launched on February 13, 2009, taking over the channel space of Toon Disney at 12 Midnight with the Phineas and Ferb episode, "Dude, We're Getting The Band Back Together!". The debut of its first original series, Aaron Stone, occurred at 7pm that day, with the first part aired on both Disney XD and Disney Channel. New animated series included in the channel's initial line up were Kid vs. Kat and Jimmy Two Shoes.[2] Jetix started switching over to DXD starting with France on April 1;[3] many of the channel's programs – particularly animated series – previously aired on Toon Disney, mainly as part of the Jetix program block, which debuted in 2004 and ran on Toon Disney until the channel's shutdown. Disney XD carries the same name as an unrelated mini-site and media player on Disney.com, which stood for Disney Xtreme Digital,[4] though it is said that the "XD" in the channel's name does not have an actual meaning. The channel's first (and so far only) original television movie, Skyrunners, premiered on November 27, 2009. On April 1, 2012, Disney XD launched a block called Marvel Universe, as a result of Disney's 2009 acquisition of Marvel.[5] In mid-2012, Disney created Disney Shows, a YouTube channel that hosts episodes of Disney Channel and Disney XD series and shorts. Disney XD series available include Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil, Kickin' It, Pair of Kings, and Zeke and Luther.[6] On July 31, 2013, Disney XD launched a block called Disney Fandom, on The Disney XD Platform. The three-day special event was geared towards Disney fans 13 and older; the event featured the first three Pirates of the Caribbean movies, which were the first programs rated TV-14 to air on the network, and a Star Wars documentary, as well as special episodes of On The Red Carpet, My Family Recipe Rocks!, Meet the Disney Legends, and Once Upon a Time. Programming See also: List of programs broadcast by Disney XDDisney XD's schedule currently consists largely of original series aimed at pre-teens and young teenagers including live-action series as well as animated series. Several shows from sibling Disney Channel are also syndicated. In addition to full-length live-action and animated original series, the channel also debuts short series similar to those seen on Disney Channel during commercial breaks, such as Team Smithereen, Run, Alien, Run! and Marvo the Wonder Chicken. These shows often follow other network shows and last about two to three minutes or sometimes fifteen minutes, with the exception of a few short-form series. The channel also airs a youth-oriented "plays of the week" countdown segment called SportsCenter High-5, which is produced by ESPN's SportsCenter and airs periodically between shows; it also airs a short series featuring edited segments of ABC's Wipeout. Often, these shows are televised in the last two minutes of the program, with the exception of the Disney XD Shortstop, or following the ending of a movie. A notable aspect of Disney XD's original series is that they tend to feature predominately male casts, and as such, its original programs feature very few females as main characters (with most live-action originals typically featuring only one female in its main cast) in comparison to Disney Channel's original programs, which tend to feature an equal or nearly equal amount of main characters of either gender. New episodes of live-action original series are usually aired on Monday and Tuesday nights, while new episodes of animated original series air on Saturday mornings. In addition, Disney XD airs original made-for-TV movies from Disney Channel and theatrically released feature films, but unlike Disney Channel, Disney XD typically does not air these movies in prime time; instead, films generally air during the late afternoon hours at 5 p.m. ET with double features airing a few times a week. Unlike Disney Channel (and similarly, fellow sister network Disney Junior), whose advertising comes in the form of program promotions, underwriter sponsorships, and interstitials for Disney films, home video and game releases produced by the channel,[7] Disney XD operates as an advertiser-supported service running traditional television commercials in addition to promotions for the channel's shows. Programming blocks Current Marvel Universe On April 1, 2012, Disney XD launched a block called Marvel Universe, with the premiere of Ultimate Spider-Man, followed by the returning The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. The block is a result of Disney's 2009 acquisition of Marvel. The block also includes new short-form animation series and live-action interstitials.[5] Marvel Animation announced in May 2012 and 2013, that its new shows, Avengers Assemble and Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., would be shown on Disney XD as part of the Marvel Universe block and would be a part of the same fictional universe.[8]